As noted in India’s AI Impact Summit of 2026, AI is a tool that is reshaping the world order. It’s also a tech that has exploded in popularity in the last few years, leading key hardware developer Nvidia to the highest market cap in the modern era.
Such technology is not without risk, however, with many tech spectators believing current trajectories are more akin to a bubble than reliable growth.
The Truth of AI’s Potential
With so much money and marketing hype generated towards AI in the last few years, it can be difficult to tell exactly where the truth of the technology’s viability lies.
According to proponents, AI is the future that will make millions of white-collar jobs obsolete, providing a faster and more reliable replacement, highly customizable to user needs.
Critics point out that AI is little more than a demonstration of forced hype, where the realities of the technology rarely measure up to the claims.
Analysing these claims reveals some truth on either side and a future that might not be as strong as the people selling the technology would have the public believe.
AI Versus Hand-built
To measure the value of AI, the best way to start is by looking at the output it has already created, the return on investment it generates, and comparing these to projects made without AI input.
For a start, consider complicated software that could be created by AI theoretically, but is instead programmed and developed by humans.
Human-Only Creations
The entertainment space is a major sector that has seen the human-made vs. AI debate take centre stage, with differing viewpoints taken across the industry. Some of the best examples of entertainment software built without AI are found in the online casino space, as seen in a respected Great Britain casino.
Casino games like Penny Roulette or Lucky Lucky need to be as reliable and optimised as possible. These manage player money, and they’re built to be accessed on older and weaker smartphones alongside newer and more powerful desktops.
There is no room for error here, and since these games reach such a high standard, they enjoy strong reputations.
The idea is that since the code base of these platforms is made by humans instead of AI, it avoids the risks that are inherent to AI platforms. It also ensures that the output has more of a human touch, which is proving increasingly important in many forms of entertainment media, too.
Many creatives have discounted AI for its inability to create anything fresh and imaginative, and this sentiment is shared in books, painting, TV, movies, and many other creative fields and industries.
AI-Developed Output
AI developed output is different in that small mistakes are a key and inseparable part of how the software operates. This tech isn’t truly intelligent; it’s more akin to a hyper-advanced version of classic auto-complete software.
It provides what’s next based on what came before, but since it can’t accurately fact-check data, there’s always a margin of error.
In measurable terms, an overinvestment in AI has already shown that the small problems inherit to its design can hold it back.
A report from MIT researchers, named The GenAI Divide State of AI in Business 2025, noted that five percent of generative AI implementations demonstrated real success. This was mirrored by another 2025 study FICO study, which relayed similar levels of productive output.
While AI might not be the ultimate way forward as is often touted, it’s also a technology in its relative infancy. Like any technology, initial enthusiasm for still-developing software can skew results, so it’s ultimately unknown what the ultimate potential of the technology might become.